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STATEMENT REGARDING COACH RICHARD HARRIS
The Winnipeg Football Club would like to express its deepest condolences to the family of Defensive Line and Assistant Head Coach Richard Harris, who was taken to hospital and passed away earlier this afternoon.
Also now announced on cfl.ca:
Winnipeg mourns loss of coach Richard Harris
July 26, 2011 0
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CFL.ca Staff
WINNIPEG – Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive line and assistant head coach Richard Harris has passed away after collapsing in his office earlier today.
“This has struck our entire organization from the top down,? said Blue Bomber President Jim Bell. “We are all in a state of shock and first and foremost would like to express our deepest sympathies to his family. The Winnipeg Football Club has lost not only a great coach, but an even better man.?
Harris joined the Blue Bombers in 2006 as the team’s Defensive Line Coach. He was appointed Assistant Head Coach prior to the 2011 season.
More to follow…
Condolences
I have sat behind the visitors bench on a number of occasions at IWS over the years and was always amazed at how this man was respected by the players.
I'll bet if you ask Kevin Glenn about Coach Harris he'll have nothing but admiration for him dating back to his Blue Bomber days.
He served as an Assistant Coach under Doug Berry, that pantload Mike Kelly, and now Paul LaPolice. Assistants seldom keep their jobs when Head Coaches are fired. He has survived 3 administrations in Winnipeg.
That speaks volumes about the Coach, and moreso the Man.
It must now be difficult for the Bombers to prepare for their next game, which is only two days from now. I'm sure there will be a moment of silence at Canad Inns Stadium around 8:00 pm EDT this Thursday.
My condolences go out to Richard Harris' family, friends, and to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers organization.
This is Awful news
Very very sad. My condolences to his loved ones and his football family.
Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and may perpetual light shine upon him.
Here’s Coach LaPolice at today’s pre-game presser regarding Coach Harris:
(Note: there is a brief commercial at start of video )
[url=http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid58616497001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAAFdYoqI~,XOSXSsnIVNwRuslSu-RqdTbpobEiBNy0&bctid=1082655914001]http://link.brightcove.com/services/pla ... 2655914001[/url]I just watched the video of the press conference.
Considering what he and his team has been through over the past couple of days, the fact that they have a game tomorrow night and that he was there when Mr. Harris passed away, I thought Paul handled the questions and all with great patience and grace. He stayed until every answer was given.
Thank you Deerhunter for sharing that.
I read an article earlier today on the sportsnet site by Perry Lefko that further demonstrated how the late Richard Harris felt about all the players, including kickers. I found it a very touching piece.
[url=http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/2011/07/26/lefko_column/]http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/20 ... ko_column/[/url]May his family have peace.
That was very sad. Some of those reporters are vultures. The guy is mouring the loss of a good friend and these guys keep hammering him with emotional questions. Makes me want to kick them. LaPolice handled it like a true gentleman and that couldn't have been easy.
When I read what Stevie said about coach Harris it broke my heart.